Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Multiplayer does not feature a mini-map in standard modes

There’s no mini-map on by default in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Multiplayer across standard modes. This represents one of the biggest changes to a core functionality of Call of Duty in a while. 

Infinity Ward’s thought process in how they approached the design for this year’s game was taking a look at every single aspect of Call of Duty’s in the past and see what was added unnecessarily. 

For players that want the mini-map, the only way to enable it in standard modes is through Killstreaks. You have three kill streak options for the mini-map in Modern Warfare MP. First up is the Personal Radar, awarded at 3 Kills. This just pulls up the standard mini-map just for you if equip this streak. At 4 kills, it’s the regular UAV you know from past Call of Duty games. And at 12 Kills, the Advanced UAV makes a return showcasing more detailed information on the mini-map. 

We first played Modern Warfare MP at the Infinity Ward studios back in May, and my first reaction was “where is the mini-map?” For players just joining on board to the game, there’s no easy way to learn the maps and understand where to move without effecting match flow. Of course, you can press Start and see the map on the menu screen, but that takes away from the immersion of the overall game. When I asked back then, they reiterated that not many users actually noticed the mini-map being gone in their play testing sessions. 

But, after playing the game now twice, it’s evident that no always on mini-map basically changes how play as you have to be able to take on audio cues more effectively. The audio in the game is quite incredible with the new engine (although player footsteps are tad too loud for my liking).